Prophet of ConFree (The Prophet of ConFree)

by Marshall S. Thomas

  At first I thought, great! It will get us out of all that exercising and marching. I guess I was still stupid. We continued with the exercises, rain or not – and we didn't use rain gear. We continued climbing Mount Sweat, battered by rain, deafened by thunder, soaked in mud, staggering along like drunks, with Doggie shrieking abuse at us for falling behind.

  One day I was bringing up the rear. It had started raining just before we reached the summit, and now we were on our way down, in the full fury of the storm. I was ready to drop and I had even fallen behind Oswego, who was usually in last place. I skidded down a slimy mud slope that was rapidly turning into a river, and just managed to retain my footing. Huge raindrops were battering at me like buckshot. I saw something on the ground ahead, through sheets of rain. What the hell – it was Oswego, down and out.

  I knelt by her side, grateful for the break. "What is it?" I asked, gasping for breath.

  "Ankle," she said, grimacing and glaring at me as if I were to blame. She was a moody girl, that's for sure.

  "Is it broken?"

  "I'm not a medic," she said, not looking at me.

  "Can you stand on it?"

  "No."

  The rain was pouring over us both relentlessly. It had soaked through our thin shorts and sleeveless tops. Oswego appeared to be naked, covered in silty mud. I suppose I did, too. She touched her left ankle and made a face. It looked like she was crying but it was hard to tell with all the rain.

  "Does it hurt?"

  "Stupid question! Yes, it hurts. What do you care?"

  "Hey, I didn't do it!"

  "Lucky you, get out of here."

  "You can't stop now. If you don't finish the run, you'll be dropped from the squad, you know that."

  "Thanks for reminding me! And if you help me, you'll be dropped, too. So just get outta my sight."

  "Get up! I can help you. Put one arm around my shoulder – here. Do it!" She made the effort, standing there with her injured leg dangling, icy rain battering at us.

  "All right, now we practice – take a step with your good leg." She hopped forward, holding tight.

  "All right, now you'll have to touch your injured foot gently on the ground to move forward. You can't hop all the way. She did so, shrieked, and almost lost her grip. I helped her down to the ground.

  "I can't do it! I think it's broken!" She was in agony.

  The rain continued.

  "Leave me."

  "No."

  "You have to leave me. I'm finished. I've failed."

  "Damn it!" I couldn't think of any solution. I was totally exhausted. I certainly couldn't carry her.

  "Get out of here! I don't need your help!" She was furious. I didn't blame her.

  "I'm going to get help," I said.

  "You do that."

  "It will work out," I said, edging away from her.

  "Screw you!"

  I staggered off, exhausted and shattered. What the hell am I supposed to do, I thought. Can I really leave her? But I can't help her! Doggie said that was against the rules. I was so tired I could hardly think.

  The rain was relentless, soaking me to the skin. I stood there. I turned back. When I came into sight of her again, she was clutching her knees in agony.

  "What the hell do you want?" she asked.

  "Shut your mouth," I replied. I got down on my knees next to her, and then turned away from her. "Get on my back," I said.

  "What?"

  "Get on my back. Now." Buddy carry, I thought. They had done a demo on that, and I had not been paying attention.

  Oswego flung her left arm over my left shoulder.

  "No," I said. "Your right arm, over my left shoulder."

  "The right?"

  "Yes – that's right. Then let me get ahold of your legs." I slipped my right arm around her legs and somehow managed to get to my feet without falling down. Now she was balanced on my shoulders and back, arms and head on my left, legs dangling on my right, secure in my grasp. I turned toward the trail. The rain did not let up even a little. I headed off downhill, with Oswego on my back. I had never imagined that I could do this. I was utterly exhausted, spent, ready to drop. I could barely pull myself along. How could I carry someone else? She clung to me grimly as I tottered downhill.

  And I suddenly realized something. She was not heavy. She's not heavy, she's my squadie, I thought. At that point I knew I could carry her all day.

  About half way down the slope, I spotted Doggie. He was in some heavy brush, under a tree, watching the trail for us. He looked right at me. I pretended I didn't see him. Screw you, Doggie. I'm taking my squadie home. Doggie did not move. He just watched, silently, until we had passed.

  I called for a medevac when we arrived home. I had walked Oswego right past the hospital on the way back, because I wanted both of us to complete the run. But I figured we were both finished. We had both broken the rules. I was angry that it should end this way.

  It’s funny, but Doggie never even mentioned the incident. That puzzled me for awhile – until I came to understand.

  Δ

  I had noticed – early in our training experience – that I was not getting a lot of respect from some of the other recruits. Oh, my own squad was fine, but to some of the others – mostly the larger types who were used to ruling the world – I was just a skinny kid who was in the way.

  One day I was lagging a bit behind the squad in the mess hall, eagerly reaching for a hot tray. A very large goon just behind me casually shoved me out of line and picked up the tray I had been reaching for. This made me quite angry.

  "Who the hell do you think you are?" I confronted him, face to face – well, no, make that face to chest. His face was way up there.

  He laughed, and punched me in the gut with a fist that felt like a sledge hammer. It knocked me right off my feet and left me squirming on the deck like a worm. My guts felt like they had exploded internally and I was having trouble breathing. In the midst of my agony I thought, I've got to stop asking people who the hell they think they are, it clearly accomplishes nothing and leads only to trouble. I was so weak and screwed up that I could hardly move. By then my squadies were picking me up. Every movement was agony.

  The next thing I knew we were in the squadmod and Overmar and Burns were holding me up while Doggie was out of his office and staring at me in astonishment. The rest of the squad gathered around.

  "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Doggie boomed.

  "It was that giant gorilla in Echo squad," Zhang said. "He hit Rains in the stomach." I was still groaning and trembling in their arms.

  "Oh yeah? And what did you guys do to him?"

  They looked around at each other guiltily. "It happened so fast," Overmar said. "We were busy taking care of Rains."

  "GOD DAMNIT! RAINS, stand at attention you WIMP! You're a Yugo-rat, aren't you?"

  "Yes – sir." I was in agony.

  "Well then ACT like it, damn you! Here's what you're going to do! You get your ass over to the Echo squadmod RIGHT NOW and beat the shit outta that goon! NOW, damn you. Then report back to me. And if for any reason you do not or cannot do it, don't come back! If you fail, go to platoon and ask for reassignment. Tell them you don't have the BALLS to be a member of Delta squad. Get outta my sight! And as for the rest of you pussies, if you ever fail to back up a comrade again, I will personally beat the shit out of all of you. Hit the deck and give me fifty, NOW!"

  I could barely move, but I staggered out of the squadmod and shakily headed off towards Echo, pausing to vomit along the way. Surely my spleen and liver and all that stuff were crushed. It sure felt like it. Now how in hell was I going to beat the shit out of that giant goon? He was a human gorilla. I had seen him lifting huge weights at the gym. One more punch from him and I'd be dead.

  The gym. I was passing the gym. I wandered in painfully. There, against the wall – a gleaming metal lift bar that was used for mounting weights. I snatched it up and exited the gym. The bar was heavy. Echo was not far away.

>   I walked right in the open squadmod door, limping. I was holding the bar vertically behind my back so that my body partially hid it from the view of anyone facing me. Everyone was home. The gorilla was sitting on the edge of his bunk, in a sleeveless top. He looked up at me curiously as I approached.

  "Ha!" he laughed. "You want some more?" His expression changed quickly as I brought the bar whistling down to smash him right in the face. His face erupted in blood and he crashed abruptly to the deck, twitching, blood splattering everywhere. The squadmod shook when he hit the floor. There was so much blood it looked like I had split his skull wide open. I turned and exited the squadmod. I dropped the bar outside and walked back to Delta. So, this was how my Legion adventure was to end. I had surely killed the man. I'd be arrested for murder, court-martialed and most likely executed. Mission accomplished, sir!

  I reported to Doggie and he hustled me into his office and slammed the door behind me.

  "What happened?" he asked.

  "I crushed his skull with a metal bar. I think he's dead."

  "Really. Good work. I'll check to see if he's dead. Get out there and wait. Don't say anything to anybody else yet – not a word! I'll call you when I need you."

  I left his office and sat on my bunk. The rest of the gang were all there, and had plenty of questions. I didn't answer.

  "Rains! Get in here!" I entered Doggie's office and stood weakly at attention.

  "He's not dead. He'll survive. Here's what you say if there are any questions. You got your injuries from falling down the squadmod steps. He'll say he got his injuries the same way."

  "But there were plenty of witnesses. And the squadmod doesn't have steps."

  "Don't worry about it. I've spoken with Echo One. The gorilla had his go at you, and you had your go back at him. That's an end to it."

  "But what if they question me with a brainscan?"

  "They won't."

  "No court-martial?"

  "Rains. You're not listening to me. This incident is now over. So forget it."

  But I couldn't forget it, and apparently neither could anybody else. The word must have spread quite rapidly, for nobody else ever bothered me. People did look at me funny, but they didn't push me around anymore. They stepped aside instead. It was a welcome change.

  Good work, he had said. I tried to make sense of that, but failed. The Legion was a very strange world. I didn't understand it yet.

  Δ

  "So what do you think, folks?" Doggie asked. "Should we do calisthenics or run up Mount Sweat?" We were all sitting around the squadmod table and it was raining outside just like some titanic waterfall. The roar of the rain hitting the plex roof sounded like cannon fire, and the whole base was getting flooded. Of course, he wasn't really asking our opinion. It was just his way of concentrating our attention.

  The door abruptly snapped open, a blast of rain and wind shot through the doorway, and somebody walked in. He was clad in rain gear, all bundled up, so we couldn't see his face at first.

  "Sir! Recruit Gaignon reporting for duty, sir!" He saluted, fist to chest, and took off his dripping hat. Arie! I was overjoyed.

  "About time you got here, recruit. What was the damned hang-up?" Doggie asked.

  "Sir, had to wait for the course to end, sir."

  "All right folks, this is your new squadie. He was diverted for awhile because the Legion needed his talents. But now his ass is mine. Gaignon, would you care to say a few words justifying your existence to my squad?"

  "Sir yes sir. Hi, Richard! Um, my name is Arie Gaignon and I'm from Eugarat. I'm just out of midschool and I've never done anything worthwhile in my life. But I'm hoping that's going to change now."

  "All right, that's enough nonsense. You will learn all about your squadies as the course progresses. For now, get outta that stupid rain gear. Squad Delta does not use rain gear. Get into running shoes, khaki shorts, khaki sleeveless top, field cap, web belt and canteen. Fill canteen with water. We're going for a little walk in the rain. Move it, children! We leave in five marks!"

  And we did – right into that torrential downpour and all the way to Mount Sweat. All of us except Oswego. She got to stay in the squadmod while her ankle was mending. About halfway up the mountain Arie disappeared in the rain and we didn't see him again until we gained the summit where we found him waiting for us, calm and rested, relaxing under an overhanging rock. He disappeared again on the way down and was awaiting us in the squadmod sipping dox with Oswego when we arrived.

  "How the hell do you do that?" I asked him, when we had a momentary break.

  "Do what?"

  "Move so fast like that!"

  "Aw, it's nothing. I was good at track. I could outrun everybody."

  "Where were you before you showed up in Delta, and how did you manage that?"

  "I was helping out the contact folks. They were teaching a course on freestyle combat contact and were short on qualified instructors. They ran the recruit lists and found me and a couple other guys. They threw me in the ring to test me, and I evidently impressed them. I had a pile of gold medals in regional competitions and I guess that's how they originally spotted me. Anyway, they were using me as a backup and as a test dummy for their demos. It was fun! But the course just ended."

  "But how in God's name did you get assigned to Delta?"

  "Well, Delta had a couple of open slots, I'm not sure why, and I was standing there when they were deciding where to send me. They actually asked me if I had any preference and I was ready for that – I knew you were in Delta."

  "Well, I'm glad to see you, Arie."

  "Likewise. Do you still remember those two honeys from the Dark Lady?"

  "Are you kidding? Honeyhair and Blondie. Of course I do."

  "I had access to some commo systems, and I was able to do a little research. Bottom line, if we ever get leave we can follow up. I didn't contact them but I've got all the info we need to do that."

  "You mean they're here on Veltros?"

  "That is affirmative, my man." He gave me a big smile.

  "Now that is good news," I said.

  Δ

  One fine day in the classroom they introduced us to the DevStrat, DevOps and DevTac segments. We had finally arrived at the point where we were to study how to conduct ourselves on the battlefield. DevStrat was the development of strategy where we studied the history of military strategy, first historical, then current. When we were through with that we went on to military operations, first historical, then current. Finally we studied military tactics, first historical, then current. The last was a very long and detailed course as it was the heart of what we had to learn – small unit tactics for interstellar warfare.

  These were all fascinating subjects to me. I learned all I could. There were graded tests every evening after class. I loved it – I did very well. By now my body was whipcord tight and all pumped up. Whatever they had been adding to our meals was doing its job. I felt great. And I was fascinated by current Legion tactics. The individual squad was the spear tip of the ConFree Legion. With our current opstech and firepower, we could be inserted onto an enemy planet without detection, move invisibly to the target, deliver overwhelming firepower to instantly obliterate the target entirely or accomplish our mission in complete silence, whatever was required, then call for evac and depart the scene quickly, again invisible to our foes. Fleetcom guaranteed us both vac and air superiority. We could strike either in person or via attack holo. Holo was preferable because it guaranteed no casualties on our side – but plenty for the enemy.

  Δ

  Ever since the ankle incident, Oswego's attitude towards me had changed about 180 degrees. Before she had been morose and sullen, but now she would always greet me with a beaming smile and appear anxious to talk with me. It was a nice change, and I felt good that I was stealing her away from the dark side. Despite that, however, she and Fordwater had become thick as thieves and when together, they were pretty much unapproachable, a strange salt and pepper combo uni
ted in suspicion and hostility. I'm not sure what the mutual attraction was, but they were a formidable pair.

  We had just broken up after a class in Dron Hall, and the squad was walking back to the squadmod. The walkway was full of recruits going to and from class. Arie and I were in the rear, and Oswego and Fordwater were ahead of us. I was just reflecting on how nice the view was, when somebody else evidently had a similar thought. There were two Alpha Squad recruits who were heading the same way and were passing the girls on the walkway.

  "Nice ass!" one of them said admiringly, as he reached out and fondled Fordwater's rear. In an instant, he was down from an elbow to the throat and an accompanying kick from Fordwater that knocked his legs out from under him. He landed on his back and Fordwater was instantly on him just like some kind of savage jungle cat. She had inserted a gleaming bootknife about halfway into his mouth and everybody froze to see what she was going to do.

  She brought her face closer to his. She was icy pale and twitching. The knife was poised to strike right down his throat. The victim was croaking like an injured frog and bleeding around his lips, but dared not move.

  "Keep your hands – to yourself," she hissed. Then she brought the knife up just a little – as if in prelude to jamming it all the way down his throat – and spat in his face. After that, she got up, began to walk away, thought better of it, and returned to spit in his face again. He just lay there whimpering. His buddy dared not move. Finally, Fordwater walked off and rejoined Oswego, who had been watching in fascination.

  "Remind me not to pat that particular girl on the ass," I said to Arie.

  "Yeah, that's not recommended in her case. What a psycho."

  "Don't say that too loud."

  "I wouldn't dream of it."

  Δ

  "All right, everybody into the pool!" Doggie ordered. We were all in bathing suits. The girls wore form-fitting, black two piecers and the males wore somewhat baggy black trunks. We got in the water and gathered at the shallow end as ordered. It was a beautiful, long competition pool with a transparent roof, and today it was reserved for drownproofing.